Economic slump in Spain’s holiday islands Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca “severe” and abrupt”, says regional Tourism minister

THE Balearic Islands suffered a “very severe” and “abrupt” economic slump in the first quarter of the year due to the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, said regional Economic Model, Tourism and Employment minister Iago Negueruela this week.
Negueruela made the comments while announcing the islands’ GDP plummeted 6.5 per cent in the three months ending in March, despite having started the year with positive figures for January and February.
Ibiza and Formentera experienced the biggest drop in GDP, at 8.2 per cent.
For Menorca it was 6.7 per cent, and 6.1 per cent for Mallorca.
This compares with a national average of a 4.1 per cent fall.
In the Balearics the service sector was the most affected (6.8 per cent), followed by construction (5.3 per cent).
The regional minister said he expected the figures for April, May and June to be even worse, but expressed the hope that from the third quarter onwards the archipelago’s GDP will start to slowly recover.